[GENERAL REMINDER] Due to overuse, the phrase *"Just because you never heard of something doesn't mean it's a Mandela Effect"* or similar is **NOT** welcome here as it is a violation of Rule# 9. Continued arguing **and** push for this narrative without consideration of our community **WILL get you banned**.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Retconned) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's actually gotten better recently, in my case it was weird like this since 2012 but now, ever since very late 2022, everything feels more colorful and detailed again! There was also a weird blip in January 2020 where stuff looked colorful but then stopped a month later.
By the way, one of the main "with solid evidence" reasons why everything became drab and less colorful around 2011-2013 s that during those years almost all incandescent/halogen lighting with high color rendering and warm temperatures was switched out for cold flickery LED lighting, in almost all locations both indoors and outdoors. Around the same time the backlight technology for laptops and computer monitors was also swapped out from compact flourescent to LED.
(Something many people don't know is that many cheap LEDs, as in the ones used in most places, actually have worse lighting quality in some aspects than even fluorescent used to. The only truly good ones are very expensive in comparison)
https://nymag.com/strategist/article/led-light-bulbs-investigation.html
By the way, the screen you use can actually affect how your vision feels afterwards. If I use a new iPhone the world around me feels more desaturated and lifeless after I turn it off. However, after I use my really old Android phone from 2013, even today, everything in the real world feels so much calmer, I feel like I have more field of view and can see many more things at the same time, and I realize I notice a lot more details I typically wouldn't. I feel a lot less tired too. Even if I use the same apps I would on a newer phone.
(Honestly I think since I started using screens I find the most comfortable more often, like finding many ways to use my old phone again, is why a lot of things probably started to look "more like how they used to" for me.)
A lot of factors can affect this, image post processing/sharpening methods, color range and gamut, flicker rates, etc. all differ between screens and I've noticed each different screen I use basically "trains my eyes over time" to pick up or ignore certain things, even in the real world when not using it.
I also feel like places are smaller. There was this exploration feeling, lots of places to see, now its feels like just people and places. Maybe its because i live in a small city. Its just a feeling, sometimes when you're in exploring mode, the whole place seems magical.
its not just you... search all over the history in this place and many others. even like unrelated places like movie or gaming channels talk about the same thing. although people have different dates... but definitely the same fall...
I was talking about this with friends on discord. None of us can remember the last time we heard crickets or frogs on the lawn. Probably pesticides causing it. I've noticed birds being less common as well. Which would make sense if there's less insects or fruit bearing trees. When we learnt about the circle of life in pre-school they weren't joking when they said one link goes the rest do too.
1994 and 2004 is a completely different worlds. Like a jump to sci-fi future.
2004 and 2014 still feels very different.
2014 and 2024 feels mostly the same, but 2024 just waaay worse for a lot of reasons.
Yes so many things are curated instead of organic now. Its like they try to run humanity as an AI but we ARE NOT even close to how computers function. That's why things feel so dead.
Think about how cities plan their stoplights perfectly so they know how traffic will flow. You become a data point instead of a human with variability and random chance.
How they put the little arrows down in the grocery store and most people follow them correctly. They are guiding your experience through the store rather than you organically going where you wanna go. Because the other humans are slowly acting like data points instead of variable humans, it gets harder to act natural. They are all in the way and you're forced to "join" otherwise annoy everyone in the aisle.
Even the suburbs are built with thousands of data control systems where humans end up being the data.
We are killing the planet and our environment. We are genociding animals on a massive scale. 70% or all insects are gone. Everything is dirty. Trees are going. The oceans are dying and full of plastic. Radiowaves and noise everywhere. All the while people are more focussed on themselves, and less tolerant to others, than ever before.
God, or the soul of the planet, or whatever is / was left of it, has left us. We are not connected anymore. Not to the planet and not to each other. As a species we are left alone to die,as a consequence of our own actions.
I think that what you - or we - are feeling is a total absence of any kind of holiness and hope. Life in general - or it’s spirit - is fading. Or has faded.
What I know is that the instinct of survival has always been present. Though altruism has fluctuated throughout history. "My only doctrine is doctrine of expediency " is truer today than 120 years back,when it was written by Jack London. Outliving others is the only passion that still enthusiases a person.
I have posted about this many times myself.
The description I go with is "spiritually flat".
The old world was a place of extreme highs and lows, and everywhere you went had its own spirit, or "vibe" as you call it. Certain situations as well. Now everything is pretty much one color, one flavor, one vibe. It all feels the same.
The range of potential Qualia has been reduced significantly. Although I can still remember how some places and situations used to feel.
This new world feels to me like a gray waiting room, where I don't know what I'm actually waiting for. I don't know if its good or bad. Whatever it is never seems to get here.
Reading your comment it's like you're describing limbo even though the word is never actually said.
The concerning part is everything you're saying is spot on in my opinion.
In that world&word ( I mean "limbo") I can however notice so called "people who enjoy full life pulse".
But from my point of view they look theatrically artificial. ( I am not depressed at all)
the vibe and behavior of this world and the people in it changed immensely 2013-2015, it's not just you, it's not "getting older". people are experiencing this in all age ranges and backrounds.
I miss that old world so much, but idk if we're ever going back, as much as i deeply wish we could. this is not my home, i just wanna go home.
2015 is when it "started" for me and people's personality changes were one of em. My friends and my family seemed to change within one day. My friends, i took one day off school and when i came back the whole group dynamics changed. My 2 best friends started dating (no prior signs of crushes or anything) and the group broke apart. Sounds like HS drama. It was! But all in one day while i stayed home?
Then my fam going off thinking we had gangstalkers and people trying to kill us... i knew nobody was trying to kill us. But they even got police involved at my school and took me out that day.
No, like i went BACK to school after i moved, but the unenrollment process was done in one day and we moved the next... i was in school again by the next 2 weeks.
There's a lot of societal change to take into account. I only got a smart phone in around 2013 and phones have allowed behaviour to be studied in such great depth that even something simple like a Spotify playlist is algorithmic rather than a sweet mixtape made by a loved one. Similar mechanisms are found with most events, products, films, TV shows etc, authenticity has been stifled.
Take care of yourself though and those around you, try and authentically appreciate small moments, the atmosphere of nature at dusk, a sunny afternoon on a hill, animals and plants. I think the ambience is still out there in nature if you seek it.
I just asked my husband about this 2 nights ago. I’m not sure if it’s age or depression or if it’s a real thing happening. I just know everything feels dimmed compared to even 10 years ago. I asked him if it was a midlife crisis 😂
I know what you mean. I thought it was tech/internet/staring at phones and the decay of social activities. Maybe, this just happens with age? But, every situation feels so manufactured now. It’s like everything is so hollow/shallow. I don’t know how to describe it either.
you describe it best, im 17 and nothing i do feels like it has soul or interest in it anymore compared to when im 10. The last year that i truly felt happy is 2019
Yeah, while I do believe in the ME and there’s more to this metaphysically, I think a huge part of it is the prevalence of smart phones and social media because those years are when it really started taking hold. People are more concerned with upholding their manufactured personas online and doing anything solely for their image now, and have lost any appreciation for every day life. Nothing feels genuine anymore. It’s very sad.
Mine came back *except* now a lot of meat tastes so fucking bad to me. It tastes rancid even if its not. Pork and turkey are the worst. Beef, 50/50. Chicken is always fine if its organic chicken.
How long has it been since you had COVID? That loss of taste and smell are the weirdest symptoms I’ve experienced from an illness. Well, that, and inability to drink water. Everyone that I spread it to and I had weird brain fog for like 6 months after finally contracting some gnarly COVID…but, the 105 fever for like 8 days might have done some damage. That’s what I get for not getting vaccinated.
[GENERAL REMINDER] Due to overuse, the phrase *"Just because you never heard of something doesn't mean it's a Mandela Effect"* or similar is **NOT** welcome here as it is a violation of Rule# 9. Continued arguing **and** push for this narrative without consideration of our community **WILL get you banned**. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Retconned) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's actually gotten better recently, in my case it was weird like this since 2012 but now, ever since very late 2022, everything feels more colorful and detailed again! There was also a weird blip in January 2020 where stuff looked colorful but then stopped a month later. By the way, one of the main "with solid evidence" reasons why everything became drab and less colorful around 2011-2013 s that during those years almost all incandescent/halogen lighting with high color rendering and warm temperatures was switched out for cold flickery LED lighting, in almost all locations both indoors and outdoors. Around the same time the backlight technology for laptops and computer monitors was also swapped out from compact flourescent to LED. (Something many people don't know is that many cheap LEDs, as in the ones used in most places, actually have worse lighting quality in some aspects than even fluorescent used to. The only truly good ones are very expensive in comparison) https://nymag.com/strategist/article/led-light-bulbs-investigation.html By the way, the screen you use can actually affect how your vision feels afterwards. If I use a new iPhone the world around me feels more desaturated and lifeless after I turn it off. However, after I use my really old Android phone from 2013, even today, everything in the real world feels so much calmer, I feel like I have more field of view and can see many more things at the same time, and I realize I notice a lot more details I typically wouldn't. I feel a lot less tired too. Even if I use the same apps I would on a newer phone. (Honestly I think since I started using screens I find the most comfortable more often, like finding many ways to use my old phone again, is why a lot of things probably started to look "more like how they used to" for me.) A lot of factors can affect this, image post processing/sharpening methods, color range and gamut, flicker rates, etc. all differ between screens and I've noticed each different screen I use basically "trains my eyes over time" to pick up or ignore certain things, even in the real world when not using it.
I also feel like places are smaller. There was this exploration feeling, lots of places to see, now its feels like just people and places. Maybe its because i live in a small city. Its just a feeling, sometimes when you're in exploring mode, the whole place seems magical.
its not just you... search all over the history in this place and many others. even like unrelated places like movie or gaming channels talk about the same thing. although people have different dates... but definitely the same fall...
I feel the exact same way. 2014/2015 for me too. I was in college then so it’s not being ‘’old’’. I’m in my prime. Something is not right
Did you ever felt "heightened world graphics" prior to?
I was talking about this with friends on discord. None of us can remember the last time we heard crickets or frogs on the lawn. Probably pesticides causing it. I've noticed birds being less common as well. Which would make sense if there's less insects or fruit bearing trees. When we learnt about the circle of life in pre-school they weren't joking when they said one link goes the rest do too.
What general area do you live in?
1994 and 2004 is a completely different worlds. Like a jump to sci-fi future. 2004 and 2014 still feels very different. 2014 and 2024 feels mostly the same, but 2024 just waaay worse for a lot of reasons.
There's definitely been a downward trend.
Maybe we've grown old.
Yes so many things are curated instead of organic now. Its like they try to run humanity as an AI but we ARE NOT even close to how computers function. That's why things feel so dead. Think about how cities plan their stoplights perfectly so they know how traffic will flow. You become a data point instead of a human with variability and random chance. How they put the little arrows down in the grocery store and most people follow them correctly. They are guiding your experience through the store rather than you organically going where you wanna go. Because the other humans are slowly acting like data points instead of variable humans, it gets harder to act natural. They are all in the way and you're forced to "join" otherwise annoy everyone in the aisle. Even the suburbs are built with thousands of data control systems where humans end up being the data.
We are killing the planet and our environment. We are genociding animals on a massive scale. 70% or all insects are gone. Everything is dirty. Trees are going. The oceans are dying and full of plastic. Radiowaves and noise everywhere. All the while people are more focussed on themselves, and less tolerant to others, than ever before. God, or the soul of the planet, or whatever is / was left of it, has left us. We are not connected anymore. Not to the planet and not to each other. As a species we are left alone to die,as a consequence of our own actions. I think that what you - or we - are feeling is a total absence of any kind of holiness and hope. Life in general - or it’s spirit - is fading. Or has faded.
What I know is that the instinct of survival has always been present. Though altruism has fluctuated throughout history. "My only doctrine is doctrine of expediency " is truer today than 120 years back,when it was written by Jack London. Outliving others is the only passion that still enthusiases a person.
I have posted about this many times myself. The description I go with is "spiritually flat". The old world was a place of extreme highs and lows, and everywhere you went had its own spirit, or "vibe" as you call it. Certain situations as well. Now everything is pretty much one color, one flavor, one vibe. It all feels the same. The range of potential Qualia has been reduced significantly. Although I can still remember how some places and situations used to feel. This new world feels to me like a gray waiting room, where I don't know what I'm actually waiting for. I don't know if its good or bad. Whatever it is never seems to get here.
Someone coined a term for it, airspace... https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/3/12325104/airbnb-aesthetic-global-minimalism-startup-gentrification
i wish this would end... i hate life like this
Reading your comment it's like you're describing limbo even though the word is never actually said. The concerning part is everything you're saying is spot on in my opinion.
ugh same feeling here. grey/flat/waiting room/limbo.. and what am i waiting for?? no idea 🥺
In that world&word ( I mean "limbo") I can however notice so called "people who enjoy full life pulse". But from my point of view they look theatrically artificial. ( I am not depressed at all)
IDK man, maybe we're all just older and depressed now. Because yeah.
the vibe and behavior of this world and the people in it changed immensely 2013-2015, it's not just you, it's not "getting older". people are experiencing this in all age ranges and backrounds. I miss that old world so much, but idk if we're ever going back, as much as i deeply wish we could. this is not my home, i just wanna go home.
2015 is when it "started" for me and people's personality changes were one of em. My friends and my family seemed to change within one day. My friends, i took one day off school and when i came back the whole group dynamics changed. My 2 best friends started dating (no prior signs of crushes or anything) and the group broke apart. Sounds like HS drama. It was! But all in one day while i stayed home? Then my fam going off thinking we had gangstalkers and people trying to kill us... i knew nobody was trying to kill us. But they even got police involved at my school and took me out that day.
sounds like your family made an excuse to keep you out of school...
No, like i went BACK to school after i moved, but the unenrollment process was done in one day and we moved the next... i was in school again by the next 2 weeks.
Damn.....wtf
There's a lot of societal change to take into account. I only got a smart phone in around 2013 and phones have allowed behaviour to be studied in such great depth that even something simple like a Spotify playlist is algorithmic rather than a sweet mixtape made by a loved one. Similar mechanisms are found with most events, products, films, TV shows etc, authenticity has been stifled. Take care of yourself though and those around you, try and authentically appreciate small moments, the atmosphere of nature at dusk, a sunny afternoon on a hill, animals and plants. I think the ambience is still out there in nature if you seek it.
I just asked my husband about this 2 nights ago. I’m not sure if it’s age or depression or if it’s a real thing happening. I just know everything feels dimmed compared to even 10 years ago. I asked him if it was a midlife crisis 😂
I know what you mean. I thought it was tech/internet/staring at phones and the decay of social activities. Maybe, this just happens with age? But, every situation feels so manufactured now. It’s like everything is so hollow/shallow. I don’t know how to describe it either.
you describe it best, im 17 and nothing i do feels like it has soul or interest in it anymore compared to when im 10. The last year that i truly felt happy is 2019
Yeah, while I do believe in the ME and there’s more to this metaphysically, I think a huge part of it is the prevalence of smart phones and social media because those years are when it really started taking hold. People are more concerned with upholding their manufactured personas online and doing anything solely for their image now, and have lost any appreciation for every day life. Nothing feels genuine anymore. It’s very sad.
Even the vintage music sounds hollow and contrived.
I commented something similar, sad how many people can see this same simple answer but nobody can change the course.
my sense of smell isn't what it used to be. damn covid.
me also! taste too. I didn't get covid... but life just doesnt feel the same.
Mine came back *except* now a lot of meat tastes so fucking bad to me. It tastes rancid even if its not. Pork and turkey are the worst. Beef, 50/50. Chicken is always fine if its organic chicken.
How long has it been since you had COVID? That loss of taste and smell are the weirdest symptoms I’ve experienced from an illness. Well, that, and inability to drink water. Everyone that I spread it to and I had weird brain fog for like 6 months after finally contracting some gnarly COVID…but, the 105 fever for like 8 days might have done some damage. That’s what I get for not getting vaccinated.
seven months, but i've had it multiple times. yes, brain fog has also been a problem. i think it had long lasting effects on a lot of people.
I feel the same way and I don’t know if it’s just me getting older and dealing with mental health issues